Quotations about Firefighters
I can think of no more stirring symbol of man's humanity to man than a fire engine. ~Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1922–2007), "An Age of Miracles," The Sirens of Titan, vonnegut.com
When fire is cried and danger is nigh,
"God and the firemen" is the people's cry;
But when 'tis out and all things righted,
God is forgotten and the firemen slighted.
~The Fireman's Journal, 1879
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. ~Bible,
Man is the only creature that dares to light a fire and to live with it. The reason? Because he alone has learned how to put it out. ~Henry Van Dyke, "The Open Fire," Fisherman's Luck and Some Other Uncertain Things, 1899
Whatever the Americans are proud of — whatever they consider to be peculiarly good, useful, brilliant, or characteristic of themselves or their climate, they designate, half in jest, though scarcely half in earnest, as an "institution." Thus the memory of General Washington... is an institution; the Falls of Niagara are an institution; the Plymouth Rock... "Sweet potatoes" are an institution, and pumpkin (or punkin) pie is an institution... Bunker's Hill is an institution; and the firemen of New York a great institution. ~Charles Mackay, "American Firemen," 1857